A person's largest investment during a lifetime is usually his or her home. Great care is taken to select the location of the home, the layout of the home and the parts to a home. Because of this concern the homeowner spends many hours and much money maintaining and beautifying his or her home.
The present invention is used to protect windows of a home or a business during periods of inclement weather by using the screen track of the existing window in the home. In the construction of homes or businesses windows are an integral part of the construction. Most of the windows are equipped with screens. The purpose of the screen is to allow the owner to open the window and prevent the entry of foreign objects.
The window with a screen is either a half screen or a full screen. The choice of whether to have a full or half screen is made by the property owner. Regardless of the choice the screen will fit securely within the screen track. This allows the screen to remain in place during normal operation of the window. This device takes advantage of this existing track. The present device does not require modification of the existing window or window frame. It also does not require any modification to the existing exterior structure of the building. Another advantage of this device is the ease of installation and removal as well as the relatively low cost to the homeowner. Additionally, this is not a permanent addition to the home and the device itself can be made aesthetically pleasing for the homeowner.
In the half screen window the invention, which is installed on the outside of the building, is inserted into the screen track. The device has two separate bars on opposite sides of the device to enable a secure fit within the screen track. One bar, which is mounted permanently to one side of the device, would give sufficient width and length to cover approximately 80% to 90% of the existing screen track. On the opposite end but on the same side of the permanent mounted side is an identical bar. Slots are provided to adjust the “fit” of the device to the window and tighten the device to the window for a secure fit.
In the full screen window, the device would extend from the top of the window to the bottom of the window. In the half screen window the device would only extend the length of the screen track. In the half screen window molding would be installed to make it aesthetically pleasing for the homeowner. The molding would cover the entire window. The central idea however, would not be changed by the addition of the molding for any particular installation. If molding is used it would extend the full length of the window frame and attach to the outside of the window frame through the use of epoxy or screws.
In the case of the half screen the clamping device would be inserted into the existing screen track of the window and the molding would cover the remainder of the outside of the window. The molding would rest against the window frame of the existing window and cover the entire window surface. In this example the lower half of the device would use the screen track for the bottom half of the invention and the upper part of the device would rest flush against the window frame. The upper part would be secured to the window frame by epoxy or screws.
In the window that has a full screen the device would be installed in the screen track and be “clamped” on the existing frame. In this example no epoxy or screws would be necessary. This device could also be used on any type window (bay, casement, half screen, or full screen) in use today. The choice of material that is used to form the barrier between the weather and the window could be a variety of material including hard plastic, polycarbonate or laminates to name just a few. An advantage to this device is the easy installation using the existing fit of the window to install this device. It is not altering, in any way, the window nor does the homeowner have to drill or anchor this particular device to the brick stucco or wood on the outside of the home.
Untightening the fastening devices and sliding the bar over accomplishes the removal of the device.
The choice of material in manufacturing this particular device will depend upon the specific location. It must be able to withstand high force winds and objects, which may strike the outside of the device. The choice of material is not significant other than the fact that it must be durable and resistant to inclement weather.